Democracy for New Mexico

Checking In

Mama moose and baby, Roosevelt National Forest CO

Moose, Roosevelt National Forest CO

Cache La Poudre River, Northern CO

Northern Colorado back road with clouds

Near Poudre Pass

Grand Lake CO South of Rocky Mt. Nat. Pk.

We're still on break but we'll be back soon.

Click on images for larger versions. Photos by M.E. Broderick.

Short Break: Open Thread

I'm taking a short break from blogging and politics to unwind and relax. I'll be back posting before you know it, and I may stop in if something happens I can't resist discussing. Until then, please use this as an open thread if you want to discuss any topics. I'll also set up a few posts to go up automatically. And, as always, visit New Mexico FBIHOP, the New Mexico Independent, What's the Word with Peter St. Cyr and our other excelllent online news sources and blogs. See you soon!

Vacation Day Open Thread

Sunny the sun conure would love to give you a post,
but his keyboard skills aren't yet up to snuff

Hold the presses. Or whatever it is we hold these days. I'm taking the day off from blogging. It had to happen sometime. I have much on my mind to write about, but then I'd have to get out of this great, light state of mind and get serious. It can all wait until tomorrow. Today I'm taking in the sunshine, listening to music, playing with my birds and letting my mind roam. Consider this an open thread to express any communication urges you might have while I'm away. See you Friday.

Open Thread

Senator-Elect Tom Udall in DC for orientation this week

Since I'll probably be at the hospital with Mary Ellen all day today, I put this up using auto-post so you'd have somewhere to write if you were so moved. Anything on your mind today? Click on Comments and type away. You must have SOMETHING to say. One thing I'm saying is that I think the choice of Arizona Governor (and Albuquerque native) Janet Napolitano to serve as Secretary of Homeland Security is a very good thing. And good riddance to the skeletal, scary Michael Chertoff. You can read about Napolitano's pertinent skills at emptywheel.

The True Blue New Mexico Congressional delegation: Ben Ray Lujan (NM-03), Martin Heinrich (NM-01), Senator-Elect Tom Udall, Harry Teague (NM-02) Sen. Jeff Bingaman in Jeff's office in DC

Photo of New Mexico delegation from Sen. Bingaman's website, taken by Congressional photographer John Klemmer. Click on photo for larger image.

Hang In There: Slow Posting Ahead

My posting will be slow to nonexistent for the next few days and maybe more. Mary Ellen is going in for some surgery in the wee hours of the morning tomorrow (Thursday) and, of course, I'll be with her. We're not sure yet if she'll get out the same day or have to stay one to three nights in the hospital. We won't really know until it happens. Many of you probably know how vague doctors can be.

The docs think they can do the procedure using laparoscopy, in which case it'll be much easier on her (and us). We're hoping that's what happens so she can avoid an incision, but there's no guarantee. It should be a rather routine operation either way -- if there is such a thing as a routine operation for the person having it!

At any rate, I may try to set up a few open threads for you to weigh in if you get the urge. Not much is going on anyway in politics right now -- except for news you can find anywhere on the national news sites and blogs. And there's always the rich array of local political blogs to check out.

I'll let you know how it goes. We have to be at the hospital tomorrow morning at 5:30 AM, yawn! Send some healing beams to M.E. if the spirit moves you.

Obama: The Lighter Side

(Click on image for larger version)

Getting too het up and nerve-wracked over the coming election? Check out The Lighter Side on Obama's blog for some tension relief. Cartoons like the one above and more in the way of political humor.

Consider this an open thread. If you've got something to say (and I know you do), click on Comment below and say it.

Lazy Sunday

I'm feeling relaxed and lazy this Sunday so I thought I'd ditch the political writing and instead offer you a couple of alternative ways to waste spend your time.

For political junkies: Try fooling around with the presidential delegate calculator, courtesy of Forbes.com. Delegates already won by Obama and Clinton are built into the calculation, and the tool allows you to punch in the results you predict in outstanding primaries and caucuses to get revised delegate counts and a myriad of permutations. What combination of wins will propel your candidate (or the opponent) to victory in the delegate count?

For aging tech enthusiasts: Check out this detailed wiki of obsolete skills related to computers, electronics and other things that require some degree of technical acumen. You can edit the entries or add your own. How many obsolete practices can your overloaded, deteriorating brain remember? Be honest. For starters, I confess that I remember changing the ribbon on a typewriter, dialing a rotary phone and operating a ditto machine.

I also clearly remember the aroma of ditto ink permeating a classroom that had wooden floors and large windows that were opened and closed by a human using a long pole with a hook on the end. This same classroom of a certain era often had what was called a "cloak room" for hanging coats and jackets. Its door panels pulled down and had dusty blackboards on the classroom side. There was usually the sound of a pendulum clock ticking in the background. The library down the hall featured an index card catalogue to help you locate books and a microfiche for scanning old newspaper articles.

For dog lovers: That's Boz up top. He's my friend John's new black lab puppy, and a master at spending his own time and that of his "master's" romping and relaxing. He's a bit more than three months old and is reportedly exploring life on planet Earth with zest. When he's not napping.

Open Thread and Hello From Chicago

I've been hanging out in Chicago since YearlyKos ended, seeing friends and sightseeing in my original home town, so I haven't posted anything but the items I set up to post automatically before I left. Sorry to neglect you all but everyone needs some time off the net!

Let's just say for now that YearlyKos was absolutely fabulous, fascinating, educational and fun. It was stimulating to be among netroots activists from all over the country, witness a lively presidential debate up close, attend workshops with prominent bloggers, experts and media, hear Howard Dean give another barnburner of a speech, witness the passion of Wesley Clark for ending the Iraq war and so much more. Gov. Richardson was all over the place greeting conventioners, our U.S. Senate candidate Don Wiviott was much in evidence and was one of the cohosts of a packed netroots candidate gathering, and we celebrated with the Teamsters right on the edge of Lake Michigan. I'll be writing more on all this when I return this weekend.

In the meantime, there's been rambling through Lincoln and Grant Parks, strolling harbors, taking in lakefront wonders, eating Italian beefs and Chicago's famous pizza and even watching fireworks just beyond the hotel room windows. Today there's a trip on a three-masted schooner, a stop at the Art In, stitute and partaking the culinary delights of Greektown or Little Italy. Tomorrow the plan is to visit Millenium Park along Michigan Avenue.

Hope all is well back in the Land of Enchantment. It's been hot and very humid during most of my time here. I forgot how wavy my humidity-fluffed hair can get....

Of course the capitulation of too many Dems who voted for the awful expansion of the FISA wiretapping act angered and disappointed me no end, as I'm sure it did you. Go ahead and comment on this or anything else that's going on as this is an OPEN THREAD.

Your Turn

I'll be back posting regularly on Wednesday but in the meantime, it's your turn. Think about it, pace about it, then have your say in the comments of this Open Thread. You must have SOMETHING on your mind.

New Mexico Becoming Key Battleground for 2008?

Read the Election Insider by the National Committee for an Effective Congress that makes a case for the competitiveness of New Mexico's 2008 races. You can discuss this topic in our comments section and/or use this as an Open Thread. Type away.

Open Thread

Go ahead. Share your thoughts on any topic. Or just say hi. Or rant away. Or something. You know you want to....

Got Movement?

March into National Women's Conference. (Left to right) Billy Jean King, Susan B. Anthony II, Bella Abzug, Sylvia Ortiz, Peggy Kokernot, Michele Cearcy, Betty Friedan. Photo 1978 Diana Mara Henry / dianamarahenry.com

How about a look at Organizing for Democratic Renewal by Marshall Ganz, a Dean Campaign/DNC organizer, at TPM Cafe. Ganz provides a brief history of movement organizing in America and how we may well be moving into a new era of liberal movement politics now.

You can use this thread to discuss the topic of organizing or any other subject you might like. It's an Open Thread....